Tariff threats drag down U.S. stocks and Bitcoin, the market focuses on the U.S. February PCE data tonight

According to ChainCatcher, Trump announced a 25% tariff on all non-US-manufactured vehicles and warned of more severe tariff retaliation if Canada and the EU jointly counter, causing market panic and trade war escalation concerns that overshadow better-than-expected GDP data. US stocks fell for the second consecutive day, with the S&P 500 down 0.33%, the Dow down 0.37%, and the Nasdaq down 0.53%.

The crypto market generally declined, with Bitcoin dropping below $86,000 due to US stock market opening lower, then narrowing its decline with stock market rebound, reporting at $87,216 at press time, down 0.4% in 24 hours. Other mainstream tokens saw slight declines, with Ethereum oscillating around $2,000. The overall market sentiment remained low, with short-term upside potentially limited before Trump’s tariff actions become clear.

In forex and commodities, the US dollar index oscillated and pulled back 0.25%; oil prices rose supported by significant US inventory decline but weakened by tariff policy demand expectations; safe-haven sentiment drove spot gold up 1.23%, breaking $3,060 and reaching a historic high.

The market focuses on the February PCE inflation data to be released tonight at 20:30. Market expectations are for year-on-year PCE inflation at 2.5% and core PCE potentially rising to 2.7%. Strong data might delay market expectations for interest rate cuts. Additionally, with April 2nd approaching, Trump’s “reciprocal tariff” policy’s final direction is drawing significant attention.